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Filling a critical data gap in nearshore microplastic loads and properties: results from the Surfing for Science project
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Microplastics were sampled in nearshore bathing waters just a few meters from shore — a zone rarely studied due to difficulty accessing it with motorized vessels — and found to contain high concentrations of particles. Land-based plastic waste first encounters and breaks down in this nearshore zone before dispersing offshore. The study fills a critical data gap and highlights that the zone where people swim may have substantial microplastic loads with implications for human exposure.
Only few studies have investigated microplastic pollution at a few meters from shore, mainly due to methodological limitations such as limited access to bathing areas with motorized vessels. Land-sourced plastics first encounter the nearshore, where they effectively breakdown into smaller pieces such as microplastics ( Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/427235/document
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Paddle surfing for science on microplastic pollution: a successful citizen science initiative
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Researchers used paddle surfers as citizen scientists to collect microplastic samples from near-shore coastal waters in the Mediterranean Sea, filling a gap in data from areas close to the coastline. The study demonstrates how citizen science can expand microplastic monitoring to locations that are difficult to access with conventional research vessels.
Microplastics Transport and Mixing Mechanisms in the Nearshore Region
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This study investigated how waves and nearshore currents mix and transport microplastics in coastal zones, finding that physical oceanographic processes strongly control where microplastics accumulate along shorelines. Understanding nearshore microplastic transport is important for predicting contamination hotspots and designing effective beach cleanup strategies.
Experimental investigation on the nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles
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Researchers measured nearshore transport of buoyant microplastic particles and found they travel at near-fluid velocity before wave breaking but accelerate in the surf zone, with lighter particles transported faster, and developed an empirical formula for predicting cross-shore microplastic transport velocities.
The Surfing for Science citizen science project: 5 years monitoring floating microplastics in the nearshore
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Researchers reported five years of citizen science microplastic monitoring data from the Surfing for Science project, in which trained surfers and paddlers towed specially designed manta trawls in nearshore waters along the northern and northeastern Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands to track floating microplastic abundance and origin.
Selective accumulation of plastic debris at the breaking wave area of coastal waters
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Plastic debris was found to selectively accumulate in the breaking wave zone at the coastline, rather than being evenly distributed across nearshore water. This wave-driven concentration effect has implications for beach cleanup strategies and for understanding how plastic enters and exits nearshore environments.
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